Third Millennium Bible TMB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 Thus saith the LORD: "Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against Me, a destroying wind.
1
This is what the LORD says: I will stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people who live in Leb Kamai.
2 And will send unto Babylon winnowers that shall fan her, and shall empty her land; for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
2
I will send people to winnow Babylon, to winnow it and strip its land bare. They will attack it from every direction on the day of trouble.
3 Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine; and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
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Have the archers bend their bows. Have them put on their armor. Don't spare Babylon's young men. Completely destroy its whole army.
4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
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Babylon's soldiers will fall down badly wounded in their streets. They will lie dead in their own land.
5 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah by his God, by the LORD of hosts, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel."
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Israel and Judah haven't been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Armies, although their land is guilty of abandoning the Holy One of Israel.
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense.
6
Run away from Babylon! Run for your lives! You shouldn't die because of Babylon's crimes. This is the time for the vengeance of the LORD. He will pay the people of Babylon back for what they have done.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
7
Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand. It made the whole world drunk. The nations drank its wine. That is why the nations have gone insane.
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: Howl for her! Take balm for her pain; if so be she may be healed.
8
Babylon will suddenly fall and be shattered. Cry for it. Bring medicine for its pain. Maybe it can be healed.
9 We woud have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country, for her judgment reacheth unto heaven and is lifted up even to the skies.
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We wanted to heal Babylon, but it couldn't be healed. Let's abandon it and go to our own land. God has judged Babylon. Its judgment is complete.
10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness; come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
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The LORD has brought about our victory. Let's announce in Zion what the LORD our God has done.
11 Make bright the arrows! Gather the shields! The LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for His device is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of His temple.
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Sharpen the arrows; fill the quivers. The LORD will stir up the spirit of the kings of the Medes because his plan is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will avenge his temple.
12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set up the watchmen! Prepare the ambushes! For the LORD hath both devised and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
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Raise your battle flag in front of the walls of Babylon. Strengthen the guards. Station watchmen. Prepare ambushes. The LORD will carry out his plans against the people who live in Babylon.
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
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Babylon, you live beside many rivers and are rich with treasures, but your end has come. The thread of your life has been cut off.
14 The LORD of hosts hath sworn by Himself, saying, "Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars, and they shall lift up a shout against thee."
14
The LORD of Armies has taken an oath on himself: "I will certainly fill you with many enemy armies. They will swarm like locusts. People will shout their victory over you."
15 He hath made the earth by His power; He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
15
The LORD made the earth by his power. He set up the world by his wisdom. He stretched out heaven by his understanding.
16 When He uttereth His voice there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures.
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When he thunders, the water in the sky roars. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings wind out of his storehouses.
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
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Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols. Their statues are false [gods].
18 They are vanity, the work of errors; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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They can't breathe. They are worthless jokes. When they are punished, they will disappear.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of His inheritance; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
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Jacob's God isn't like them. He made everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. His name is the LORD of Armies.
20 "Thou art My battleax and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms.
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"You are my war club and my weapon for battle. I will use you to crush nations. I will use you to destroy kingdoms.
21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider.
21
I will use you to crush horses and their riders. I will use you to crush chariots and their drivers.
22 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid.
22
I will use you to crush men and women. I will use you to crush the old and the young. I will use you to crush young men and women.
23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
23
I will use you to crush shepherds and their flocks. I will use you to crush farmers and their oxen. I will use you to crush governors and officials.
24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight," saith the LORD.
24
"In your presence I will pay back Babylon and all the people who live in Babylon for all the evil things that they did in Zion," declares the LORD.
25 "Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain," saith the LORD, who destroyest all the earth; "and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
25
"I am against you, Babylon, you destructive mountain. You have destroyed the whole earth," declares the LORD. "I will use my power against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a scorched mountain.
26 And they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever," saith the LORD.
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People won't find any stones in you to use as a cornerstone. They won't find any stones in you to use for a foundation. You will become permanent ruins," declares the LORD.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her; call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.
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Raise your battle flag throughout the world. Blow the ram's horn among the nations. Prepare nations to attack Babylon. Tell the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz to attack it. Appoint a commander to lead the attack. Bring up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
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Prepare nations to attack Babylon. Prepare the king of the Medes, their governors, all their deputies, and all the countries that they rule.
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without an inhabitant.
29
The earth trembles and writhes in pain. The LORD carries out his plans against Babylon to make Babylon a wasteland so that no one will live there.
30 The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they have remained in their strongholds; their might hath failed, they have become as women; they have burned her dwelling places, her bars are broken.
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The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting. They stay in their fortified cities. Their strength has failed. They have become women. Their buildings are set on fire. The bars across their gates are broken.
31 One courier shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
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Runners run to meet runners. Messengers follow messengers. They inform the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured.
32 and that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
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The river crossings have been taken. The enemy has burned its marshes, and its soldiers are terrified.
33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor; it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come."
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This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. Their harvest time will come soon.
34 "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me; he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel. He hath swallowed me up like a dragon; he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath cast me out.
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King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured us. He has thrown us into confusion. He has turned us into empty jars. He has swallowed us like a monster. He has filled his belly with our delicacies. Then he spit us out.
35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon," shall the inhabitant of Zion say; "and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!" shall Jerusalem say.
35
The people who live in Zion say, "May the violence done to us be done to Babylon." Jerusalem says, "May the people of Babylon be held responsible for our deaths."
36 Therefore thus saith the LORD: "Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
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This is what the LORD says: I am going to take up your cause and get revenge for you. I will dry up Babylon's sea and make its springs dry.
37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant.
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Babylon will become piles of rubble. It will become a dwelling place for jackals, something horrible, and an object of contempt, where no one lives.
38 They shall roar together like lions; they shall yell as lions' whelps.
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Its people are like roaring lions and growling lion cubs.
39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake," saith the LORD.
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When they are excited, I will prepare a feast for them and make them drunk so that they will shout and laugh. They will fall into a deep sleep and never wake up again, declares the LORD.
40 "I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with hegoats.
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I will take them to be slaughtered like lambs, rams, and male goats.
41 "How Sheshach is taken! And how the praise of the whole earth is surprised! How Babylon has become an astonishment among the nations!
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"Sheshach has been captured. Babylon, the city that the whole world praised, has been taken captive.
42 The sea has come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
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What a horrifying sight Babylon will be to the nations! The sea will rise over Babylon, and its roaring waves will cover it.
43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
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Its cities will be ruined. It will become a desert, a land where no one lives and where no human travels.
44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
44
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make Bel spit out everything that it has swallowed. Nations will no longer stream to Babylon, and its walls will fall.
45 "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
45
"Leave it, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the burning anger of the LORD.
46 And lest your heart faint and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land--a rumor shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumor and violence in the land, ruler against ruler"
46
Don't lose courage or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land. One rumor comes one year; another rumor comes the next year. Rumors of violence are in the land. Rumors that one ruler will fight against another are in the land.
47 therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
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That is why the days are coming when I will punish Babylon's idols. The whole country will be put to shame, and all its soldiers will lie dead.
48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon, for the despoilers shall come unto her from the north," saith the LORD.
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Then heaven and earth and everything in them will rejoice over Babylon, because destroyers from the north will attack it," declares the LORD.
49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
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Because the people of Babylon have killed many Israelites and because they have killed many people throughout the earth, Babylon must fall.
50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away; stand not still. Remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
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You people who escaped from the sword, leave! Don't just stand there. Remember the LORD in a distant land, and think about Jerusalem.
51 We are confounded because we have heard reproach; shame hath covered our faces, for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD'S house.
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We have been put to shame, and we have been disgraced. Shame covers our faces, because foreigners have gone into the holy places of the LORD's temple.
52 "Therefore behold, the days come," saith the LORD, "that I will do judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
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"That is why the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish their idols, and those who are wounded will moan everywhere in the land.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall despoilers come unto her," saith the LORD.
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The people of Babylon might go up to heaven. They might fortify their strongholds. But destroyers will still come from me against them," declares the LORD.
54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
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Cries of agony are heard from Babylon. Sounds of terrible destruction are heard from the land of the Babylonians.
55 because the LORD hath despoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice. When her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered,
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The LORD will destroy Babylon. He will silence the loud noise coming from it. Waves of enemies will come roaring in like raging water. The noise will be heard everywhere.
56 because the despoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken; every one of their bows is broken. For the LORD God of recompenses shall surely requite.
56
A destroyer will attack Babylon, its soldiers will be captured, and their bows and arrows will be broken. "I, the LORD, am a God who punishes evil. I will certainly punish them.
57 "And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her captains and her rulers and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake," saith the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts.
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I will make their officials and wise men drunk, along with their governors, officers, and soldiers. They will fall into a deep sleep and never wake up," declares the king, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: "The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire; and they shall be weary."
58
This is what the LORD of Armies says: The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled, and its high gates will be set on fire. People exhaust themselves for nothing. The nations wear themselves out only to have a fire.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
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This is the message that the prophet Jeremiah gave to Seraiah, son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's rule. (Seraiah was the quartermaster.)
60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
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Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the disasters that would happen to Babylon. He wrote all these things that have been written about Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see, and shalt read all these words,
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Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you come to Babylon, see that you read all this.
62 then shalt thou say, `O LORD, Thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.'
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Then say, 'LORD, you have threatened to destroy this place so that no person or animal will live here, and it will become a permanent ruin.'
63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates.
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When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.
64 And thou shalt say, `Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary.'" Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
64
Say, 'Babylon will sink like this scroll. It will never rise again because of the disasters that I will bring on it.'" The words of Jeremiah end here.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.